End of the Line

A busy few days here in Esterillos Oeste. Went into Jaco Friday, took care of some business with our lawyer there, then went thro the rather convoluted process of opening a bank account. This involved two letters of reference which were created on the spot in his office, then a trip to the bank with his secretary. The whole thing took about an hour and included the perennial question which is always asked when you buy property, register a vehicle, open an account, etc. here i.e. "Are you married? and how many times?" Not sure what legal significance this has as far as number of marriages, but it's a staple. This time, they also wanted to know my monthly income. I supplied a number but then was told I needed proof of this. Not having thought to bring along a copy of my 1040, I was at a loss until I learned that "proof" could also simply be a letter from my lawyer saying it was so!

Back to the house where what I thought would be a simple task of changing the backdoor lock turned into quite a job. A "problema pequeña" when the bolt proved too big for the existing slot was solved, sort of, when an arc welder was produced. A long piece of braided copper wire was unrolled and two bare ends stuck into the outlet for the stove, the other ends fastened to the arc box and suddenly sparks flew while I averted my eyes to avoid flashburn. The whole thing was definitely of the "sledge hammer and cutting torch" school of home repair. When the screws turned out to be too short to reach, a chisel, hammer and power drill proved handy to remove about 1/4 inch of the wood from the door. The crew did several other minor repairs including replacing a roof tile which had literally bit the dust, and everything took several hours with a break for breakfast and lunch.

Today was spent breakfasting on the beach, packing, storing the bike (inside the house of course) and otherwise getting ready to leave. Tomorrow (if he doesn't forget), John.........the sales rep.......is supposed to give me a ride on his quad the five miles or so to a hotel where I can catch the Interbus directly to the San Jose Airport. If all goes well, I'll be in Chico Tuesday afternoon. "Back to the World"

Esterillos

The picture I've been waiting to take!

THURSDAY April 10

Left Tamarindo around 11, and made my eventual way to Jaco'. Beautiful ride of about 120 miles, but it was "eventual" because I got turned around in Puntarenas and had to stop and ask directions twice from (our mainstay during the trip) taxi drivers. My map didn't show it, but Jogi had told me that there was now a bridge across Golfo de Nicoya at it's most inland part of course and this saved a lot of time versus going around the gulf or taking a 1 1/2 hour ferry across. Thought about swinging into Jaco', but it was starting to rain a little and threatened a lot more, so I made it to Esterillos Oeste, told the guard at the project I had a house there, but he (very reassuringly I must say) insisted on checking with the sales office who vouched for my bona fides and just like that..............I was parked at my house. It seems a bit unreal to see my bike at my house here in Costa Rica. Total distance traveled: 4120 miles.

After unloading, I rode down to the beach, had a few beers to pat myself on the back a bit, then pizza at the place across the road from the Low Tide Bar. Back at the house, I spent considerable time putting sheets on the bottom bunk, got the air conditioning working to my great relief, showered and turned in. ¡El viaje mio es terminado finalmente!

Jogi and Verena

Tamarindo Day 4

Only three days, cumulative of 250 miles (3 round trips to Nicoya), about 20 phone calls, but finally got the inspection of the bike done today! The inspection itself was surprisingly detailed.......check all lights, signals, etc. VIN and engine number, emissions check. They were supposed to do a brake test, but the computer for that section wasn´t working, so they skipped it. Fortunately, had two little dinky red reflectors where the license used to be since this is also a requirement. Then another station (you ride the bike from station to station inside a large building) where they again check all the numbers in case the first guy screwed up I guess, then back to the office to wait in line for half an hour to get our final papers. Met with Jogi´s attorney and signed a power of attorney again to get the rest of this done over the next several weeks since it can now proceed without me.

There was a scheduled power outage which apparently happens weekly today from 8 AM to 2PM and without air conditioning, it´s pretty warm. Then, another power outage, which Jogi cynically said probably had something do with the work performed earlier, occurred in the evening.........on and off, on and off several times within an hour.

Took a dirt road detour to Playa Avenilla....and had a drink at Lola´s Bar right on the beach, beautiful spot named for the huge pig which the owner has. Then back to the office for more copies and other details, got a bit of a rainstorm which helped settle the dust. Back to Jogi´s rather late for a spaghetti dinner. It´s been great here at Jogi and Verena´s; they have been wonderful, gracious hosts and I´ve enjoyed it very much. ¡Manaña, voy a Jacó y Esterillos! May not be able to post so much since I´ll have to go into Jacó to an Internet cafe to do so.

Tamarindo Day 3

Tuesday April 8, 2008

Another ride 80 miles to the inspection station, another wasted day. Apparently, the computer system for customs and the police doesn´t communicate with the one for the Revisón (inspection) so they wouldn´t let us do anything. The craziest part is that rather than entering our data into their system at the place, the procedure is to FAX the sheets to San Jose where some technician there does the data entry!!!!!!!!!!! Unbloodybelievable!!!!!!! Holy Mother of God.

Time is running out for me to get this done as I fly home Monday and still have much to do at the house in Esterillos plus lawyer business in Jacó. So now, my tentative plan is to try again tomorrow, a prospect which gives me scant hope, and if that doesn´t work, then leave my bike at Jogi´s. Later, he and a friend can ride to Nicoya for the damn inspection, and I´ve already signed a power of attorney with his lawyer to take care of the remainder of the paperwork. I would have to rent a car here and drive to my house.

On the way back, we stopped and saw some toucans......beautiful birds indeed.

We all went out to dinner at the Coconut restaurant, and had a great meal complete with a serenade by strolling musicians, pictures of the ladies in cowboy hats and much merriment. Tomorrow, we´ll try again at the inspection station. (fingers crossed)

Tamarindo Day 2

Monday April 7, 2008

Yesterday, washed clothes, washed the bike, relaxed and just hung out.

Laura, Jogi and Verena's daughter

We went out for pizza at a great little place, owned and run by Italians incidentally so the food was quite good. Was wearing my Valentino Rossi shirt by happenchance which was quite well received by our hosts with comments of, ¨Valentino! ¡Muy Bueno!¨ etc.

Buddy, who reminds me of my dog Dewey

Today was a bust however as we rode 35 miles to Nicoya to the Revisón (the government station where you must have your vehicle inspected as another step in the lengthy process of obtaining registration. We have the official papers in our hand from the customs agent at the border, but were told that we were not yet officially in their computer system (???) (this from Saturday) and thus could do nothing until we were. This could take as long as 3 days, but there may be a way to cut it to one which means we could get this accomplished tomorrow. I can´t believe the inefficiency and lack of communication of the government bureaucracies here. Makes the DMV seem like a model of productivity.

Did buy some sheets for the house, a few other little items needed for survival and changed some money so the trip wasn´t a total waste. Will know later this afternoon if we can do it tomorrow.

Tamarindo At Last!

Sunset at Playa San Juan, Nicaragua

I am here at Jogi and Verena's beautiful home in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Stayed at the Hotel Casablanca last night in San Juan, Nicaragua and celebrated our last night on the road with some bar-hopping. Hooeeeeeeeee!


Great fun at La Iguana, shooting the breeze with the bartenders, laughing my head off at one guy's impersonation of Harley-Davidson riders, general good time, but I'm not in shape for a night of continuous imbibing, so I bought a t-shirt, and called it a night around midnight while Jogi soldiered on. Only a bit of a headache next morning.

Back over that perfectly horrible road, made worse by a water truck which created mud for my street-oriented tires to slip over. Costa Rica border we hired another tramadore who actually turned out to be honest. We were able to pay the import tax on the bikes (needed if you want permanent registration in Cost Rica) at the customs station altho this involved 2 extra hours and some very unorthodox procedure which worried me considerably as two guys take off with my title and passport and I imagine the worst. They made us remove our US plates, so we will have none for about a month when the temporary cardboard plates come. As long as you carry the paperwork with you, you should be OK if the policia transito stop you. They kept the titles since we will have new ones reissued here. Cost me $1600 import duty which is still cheaper than buying the same bike here. Nearly 4 1/2 hours total at the border.

FINALLY left the border around 4 PM and had to beat cheeks the nearly 80 miles to Tamarindo, arriving just as it got dark.


Jogi's place is lovely indeed complete with a beautiful pool with an Infinity edge, lush landscaping


and an airy open floor plan to the house itself......really nice.. Great pasta/chicken dinner, made a phone call to my wife, and turned in.


a few bugs which hit us in one swarm!


back on the main road from San Juan, heading for the border









Casa de Jogi y Verena


bikes at Jogi´s

The End is in Sight

A day of relative leisure. Left Hotel Los Volcanes after a sumptuous breakfast of huevos rancheros.

Beautiful place really with a nice bar, landscaped grounds, nice rooms.

Hotel Los Volcanes

But, apparently everything in Nicaragua must take forever. Checking out was almost as long as crossing the border....five sheets of paper, each requiring a signature, then each was stamped twice by the clerk (they are very big on stamps down here).

More abominable roads en route to Granada, passed along the margins of the capital city, Managua, but managed to use the GPS for a change to avoid getting too lost in this city of 1.6 million.

Granada is a very scenic, Old Spanish-style resort town on the shores of Lake Nicaragua - the only lake in the world with freshwater sharks. Many classic style homes with interior courtyards and gardens, a city plaza which we parked across from and enjoyed capuchinos on the veranda

of a very swank hotel, Horse-drawn carriages for the tourists (lots of American voices) complete the Old World ambience.

Jogi talked about staying on the beach at San Juan, but I was unprepared for the horrible (even by Nicaraguan standards) road in. Mostly a dirt road with infrequent sections of washed out, potholed pavement, numerous detours as the road is "under construction" across mud, sand and gravel. Road dead ends at the lovely coastal village of San Juan.

Hotel Casa Blanca in San Juan

.........worth the trip. Staying at a great little place right on the beach with intern et, included breakfast, air conditioning.

Tomorrow the journey semi-officially ends at Jogi's house in Tamarindo on the northern coast of Costa Rica. We'll get the bikes registered in the next few days, and then I will ride to Esterillos, take care of numerous things, store the bike and hang out. I'll probably post a few more blogs once there.

Every Day Has an End

Bathroom stop under a bridge in Nicaragua


THURSDAY APRIL 3RD

Central American Riding Rule 4 ..........DON´T do two border crossings the same day.

Left Usulutan El Salvador early this morning, and made the border with Honduras at El Amatillo by 9:30. This time, the tramadores really socked it to us however. We met these guys on the Salvadoran side, and it turned into a fiasco as they promised one thing and delivered another. Some payment up front, but the number kept getting larger. First, a story about the computer was down and they would need more money to have an official do all the paperwork by hand. Then this and that, and by the time we FINALLY (3 hours later) were thro, we were about $112 lighter per man.

Trucker getting some rest at the Salvador-Honduras border

Jogi trying to find a wi-fi connection while
killing three hours at the border

Let me just sumarize the way border crossings work in Central America......first you have to export yourself and your vehicle from the country you are leaving. This involves a stop, usually one but can be two where you must show your entry papers from the country you are leaving . Then you proceed into the border zone where you must go thro immigration for yourself and customs for your vehicle to enter the other country. They typically want two copies of license, passport, registration and title plus whatever else they dream up. These are officially stamped and then you BEGIN the process. Honduras and Nicaragua require fees and in the latter case, insurance for about $30. You are besieged with money changers and dozens of tramadores all loudly insisting that you use their services. They are very vague about just what their fees might be as we found out to our regret.

Most of the work is done on typewriters (when did you last see one?) altho in El Salvador, they scanned our passports into a computer system. The slightest irregularity sends you back in line. Hot, tedious, time consuming and confusing pretty well sums it up. Plus a constant line of BS from your helpers about why things aren´t going well and why more money is needed.

Anyway, two and half hours later we clear the Honduran border and race like crazy across the scant 75 miles of that country to Nicaragua where things really got bad. Again, the gringos got royally screwed by the ¨helpers¨who took


Honduras-Nicaragua border

another $90 off us, got our papers in about an hour, but when we tried to leave, were stopped by Nicaraguan Immigration officials who said we lacked an important receipt and would have to go back. Another hour of hot hassle, and we never were exactly sure what in hell was going on, but suddenly it was discovered that we HAD the necessary papers afterall, so were allowed to cross. Our plans to ride 120 miles to León in the toilet, we set out on absolutely the worst road we´ve encountered the entire trip.........Highway Central America 3 thro Nicaragua. It will be dark in about an hour now and the road, which we were warned about by a vendor of Gatorade and bottled water, is indeed ¨muy peligroso¨.........when she said this to me, I mistakenly thought she meant dangerous because of bad guys, not bad pavement.

This ¨road¨was little more than a series of washouts and enormous potholes..........complicated by the Latin technique of pothole repair which is to jackhamer out about a 2 X 2 foot square nearly six inches deep around every pothole, circle with chalk and leave for evental filling in. Sudden death if you hit one of these on a motorcycle at speed. Speed dropped to 30 mph as we weaved in and out and around these things, dodging kids on bicycles and veering out of the way of trucks and buses which would abruptly move into your lane to avoid a huge washout. A lot of passing on the dirt to the right and other heart stopping maneuvers. My major fear was darkness falling........it gets dark earlier the more south you travel and having to navigate this bloody excuse for a road in the dark thus violating Central American Riding Rules number 1 thro 3 which is DON´T RIDE AT NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thankfully, after about 20 miles, the road began to gradually improve. We passed several horse drawn carts full of firewood, and lots of other colorful stuff I don´t have pictures of because we were set on ¨getting to a town before it gets dark.¨

Merciful God, we made it to the Hotel Los Volcanos, a very nice place, bar & restaurant, internet, secure parking right in front of the lobby for the bikes. A hot (Yes! They have hot water) shower, good meal of garlic shrimp and a nice bottle of Cabernet later, the world looks much better.

Tomorrow we are going to take it easy. Visit Granada which Jogi says is beautiful, eat lunch in the park, spend aother night in Nicaragua and plan on entering Costa Rica Saturday. I could use a day of rest.

Mazatenago to Usulutan Wednesay April 2

Wednesday April 2nd

Pool at the hotel in Guatemala

We had just left the border station at La Hachadura, between Guatemala and El Salvador when a gaily painted bus pulled over to let us pass. Welcome to El Salvador! This would never happen in Guatemala where, as Jogi put it, "they drive like they are in a war."

Northern Guatemala is mountainous, like Chiapas, this gives way to lush green farm land as you go south. El Salvador is beautiful, my favorite country so far. Rugged mountains, good roads, very friendly outgoing people and they take American dollars so no need to hassle changing money. Gas more expensive.......$4/gallon and I'm now using premium on Gabriel's advice since he told me the gas in Latin America is "very dirty."

Border station into El Salvador

Wonderful mountain roads on Central American Hwy 2, several tunnels and we ran along the ocean for a ways also.

The border crossing was tedious, hot, insanely complicated, and hot. We used two tramadores, young guys who guide you thro the process, show you the way from copier to customs, to immigration, back to customs, back to immigration, etc.We paid one $5 to watch the bikes and $7 to the other who acted as guide. Well worth it too. The fact that my sister Sharman's name was on the title of my bike caused a minor problem. I explained to the official that yes, we bought the bike together, but she had since given me the bike. When he asked where she was, I considered telling Jogi to go buy a wig and try to pass, but instead produced the notarized document which attested to the above, and this made everything happy.

Got into Usulutan just at dusk, rang the bell on the high steel security gate to the Hotel Campo Real (the first hotel we tried upon the recommendation of a helpful guy at the gas station was out of business) and a uniformed guard wearing a pistol-grip 12 gauge shotgun slung around his neck, granted us admission. Nice room for $32. Everyone was quite taken with our saga, the bikes and Jogi's GPS, although I explained that it didn't work worth a hoot in Central America. (poor maps is why) Would have made our goal of San Miguel another hour away, but took a wrong turn this morning and went 50 miles in the wrong direction, arriving at the Guatemalan coast instead of El Salvador. I got worried upon seeing all these signs for "Puerto this" and "Puerto that" so we stopped at a park where a bunch of bikers were parked, eating lunch and asked, then back the way we'd came. 358 miles and a good day.

The Road is a Harsh Mistress

Monday March 31

Well, recall I mentioned looking for dark spots on the road which could signify oil? You can´t see dark spots of oil on a dark road however as I discovered in the Chiapas Mountains about 50 miles from the Guatemalan border. I came around a very sharp curve heading uphill, front tire hit a patch of oil (I walked back later to confirm this), washed out and down I went. Initial thought was, ¨what in hell happened, this was so easy?¨ Jogi was right behind, we pulled the bike up, wheeled it off the road before some car came along to squash me good. Clinically, my right ring finger is broken at the distal phalanx or tip.........knee pads did their job so no other injury. The tip of my finger was canted off a bit so I yorked on it some (excuse the fancy medical jargon) to straighen it out and did a makeshift splint with some bandaids. More importantly, the bike was relatively unscathed, at least from the outside. Guess I helped break its fall.

Limped it into nearest town of Comalapa, but by this time the bike was suddenly dying and becoming increasingly hard to start. Found an interesting little hotel where the room resembled a barn, but clean and the fan worked. Now bike wouldn´t start at all, so we pulled off the gastank, changed the spark plug, but little improvement.

Jogi went down to a nearby Internet cafe where it was mentioned that a pretty good motorcycle mechanic was close by. About 9 PM, Jogi returns with Gabriel.....wheeling his Honda 250 dirt bike into the tiny hotel lot. He manages to start the bike, takes it for a test ride thro town, but returns on foot nearly half an hour later explaining that the bike died so he left it with a friend. Jogi rides off on his bike, and together they push it back. Gabriel tells us he thinks the fall knocked debris from the tank into the carb and that he will return next morning to clean carb and tank. I was too tired and upset to do much more than peel off my filthy clothes, shower in freezing water and fall asleep.

Prior to The Fall, we had been enjoying an interesting day. First, a wreck between two trucks on a little bridge had traffic backed up for about half a mile, but we rode to the head of the line, and found about a three foot space between the immobile vehicles we could ride thro. It´s good to be narrow even if my mirrors almost touched the trucks as I went. Then, in Chiapas we rounded a corner and again traffic was stopped.........this time for a demonstration against high electricity prices. The protest was designed to shut down the major road to show the government how unhappy the people are. Thinking the flyer which was proffered was some ad for a fiesta, I almost said no, but noticed Jogi reading his so took one which was good or there would have been major offense given. Chiapas is a very poor state, heavily Mayan and was the locale for the Zapatista Rebellion in the nineties when the people there revolted against the national government (which typically gives this area short shrift) and actually took over several towns. This was quickly put down by the Mexican Army, but the spirit of rebellion is strong here and you see many pro Zapatista signs on buildings and car windows.

So we sit in the hot sun and are quite the hit with the young guys who crowd around and ask questions about the bikes, until we ask about leaving. We had ridden to the head of the line where the peasants had made a crude barrier of stones and palm branches. One fellow who looked important said we could pass, but when we attempted to go, a rather angry crowd blocked out way and made it apparent they didn´t like the idea. So, Jogi took their picture which pleased them....probably thought now their little protest would make all the Western papers....., but still no pass. There was much laughing mixed with loud arguments between the ¨they are just tourists and this isn´t their issue, let them go¨faction versus the ¨to hell with them, nobody passes, it would be disrespectful and besides we need to show we´re serious¨group. After a while it was agreed we could go and the crowd parted, a small opening was made in the barrier. Jogi decided to show off and popped a wheelie as he rode thro, but it went awry, the rear end sashayed out and he barely kept the bike up by using his feet as outriggers. This was well received by the crowd who no doubt thought it had all been purposefully done for their entertainment. I was loudly encouraged to do the same, but politely declined and awa



TUESDAY APRIL 1ST

7 AM sharp Gabriel (yes, just like the angel) shows up on his bike with a sack of tools bungeed on back, holding an oil drain pan and a can of spray carb cleaner in his right hand. The guy was just great, pulled the carb off and expertly disassembled it in no time at all. And yes, the main jet was plugged. All done and put back together in about 2 hours and the bike runs great. I twisted the handlebars back straight on the forks, and we proceeded to Gabriel´s house



Passerby watches the oil change

where he showed us his collection of old and wrecked bikes and quads, then to the store for some oil and then back where he changed oil on Jogi´s bike for good measure. Didn´t get out of town till nearly noon, but at least I have a functioning machine.

Border crossing at La Mesilla went very smoothly. Quite quick and absolutey hassle free....would that the other might follow suit! Rode about 150 miles. What a beautiful part of Guatemala......mountainous.....very steep, everything lush and green with both pine trees and palms. The buses here are painted bright colorful designs, everything looks much more festive than in Mexico. Tonight we are staying at a nice hotel in Matzatenango......$30 night WITH Internet obviously. In Guatemala, they don´t have the national gasoline company they did in Mexico, so good old Texaco, Shell and even Esso are found. Gas here is also sold by the gallon instead of the liter....about $2.80 for regular.

A trying 24 hours, but I´m happy now.